Tim Sweeney, founder and chief executive of Fortnite’s parent company Epic Games, accused Big Tech leaders of switching political allegiances to “earn” President-elect Donald Trump.
In a Friday post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Sweeney warned that Silicon Valley’s most powerful bosses would feign political allegiance to the MAGA movement to continue a “vile monopoly campaign” with the incoming administration.
Newsweek contacted Epic Games, Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon, OpenAI, Tesla and the Trump transition team by email for comment.
Why it matters
Sweeney’s accusations come after several tech executives who did not publicly support Trump before the election donated to or met with him after his victory, including the bosses of Amazon, Apple, Open AI, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram , and Alphabet, which owns Google.
Trump’s alliances with right-wing tech tycoons like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel point to a potential shift toward deregulation and policies favorable to big tech companies.
Evan Vucci / ASSOCIATED PRESS
What you need to know
Sweeney wrote that the executives acted cynically to advance their own companies’ agendas rather than out of genuine political commitment.
“After years of pretending to be Democrats, big tech executives are now pretending to be Republicans in hopes of currying favor with the new administration. Beware of the nasty monopoly campaign of dishonoring the competition laws as they rip off consumers and destroy competitors,” he said. wrote on X.
Sweeney has long been critical of Big Tech for what he sees as monopolistic practices. In 2023, Epic Games won a lawsuit against Google after a judge ruled that the Google Play app store operated as an illegal monopoly.
Under President Joe Biden’s administration, the US government has tried to regulate big tech companies by filing antitrust lawsuits against Amazon, Google and Meta. The executives of these companies may be hoping that the Trump administration is more friendly to their interests.
X owner Musk, the world’s richest man, will serve in the Trump administration, leading a newly created agency tasked with cutting regulation and government spending. His appointment to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) comes after he prominently endorsed Trump in the 2024 race and donated $277 million to his campaign.
As a major government contractor, some critics have suggested that Musk could use his influence in the Trump administration to further enrich himself and his companies. Sweeney suggested that other tech CEOs are following his lead.
What people say
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games on X: “After years of pretending to be Democrats, big tech executives are now pretending to be Republicans in hopes of currying favor with the new administration. Beware of a nasty monopoly company in disgrace of competition law as they rip off consumers and crush competitors.’
This was reported by Casey Burgat, professor of political science at George Washington University Newsweek: “Big tech executives like (Amazon founder Jeff) Bezos and (Meta CEO Mark) Zuckerberg strike a delicate balance: maintaining a good relationship with a government that openly threatens their business models while mitigating potential regulatory or legislative crackdowns.”
This was announced by Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the Trump-Vance transition team Newsweek: “President Trump surrounds himself with industry leaders like Elon Musk as he works to restore innovation, reduce regulation and celebrate free speech in his second term.”
What happens next
Trump’s inauguration on January 20 will usher in a new era of cooperation between the administration and Big Tech.
Musk has announced plans to reduce regulation and streamline government operations, raising questions about how the changes will affect competition and innovation.
